DOCSLIB.ORG

What to Do And

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
What to Do And What to See and Do . in Benton Historical Limestone Water Tower Water Street—Benton, Wisconsin Built in 1900, Benton’s historical limestone water tower is one of the few of its type in the Midwest and one of only two in the state of Wisconsin. Originally the water tower had a red wooden tank on top. Perched atop the tank was a windmill that pumped water from the well below and had blades that are said to each have been “as big as a man.” The limestone water tower was Benton’s source of water from 1900 until the spring of 1998 when the current water tower was put into use. In 1999, Benton’s limestone water tower was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. (Image courtesy of Dave Driscoll.) Mazzuchelli Gravesite and Rectory Museum 237 E. Main—Benton, Wisconsin Father Samuel Mazzuchelli came from Italy to America at the age of 22. Following his ordination, he was assigned to be a missionary priest for the Northwest Territory. He was highly admired and earned the respect of all to whom he ministered, including settlers, miners, and the area’s native tribes. Father Mazzuchelli was the child of wealthy parents and received a comprehensive, cultured education which included the command of several languages and the study of architecture. As a pioneer priest, Father Mazzuchelli designed and built 25 churches in the upper Mississippi Valley area—including Benton’s St. Patrick Catholic Church, built in 1852, and New Diggings’ St. Augustine Church, constructed eight years prior to that. (Photos courtesy of Dave Driscoll.) In addition to his renowned missionary work and his formation of Christian communities in the region, Father Mazzuchelli was also a pioneer in Wisconsin education. He opened and taught in public schools in Benton, New Diggings, Hazel Green, and Sinsinawa, teaching the children of lead miners in those towns. In 1852 he established St. Clara Academy for Girls in Benton. The school continued here until 1867 when it was moved to Sinsinawa Mound. St. Clara Academy was in operation in Sinsinawa until it was closed in 1970. Father Mazzuchelli aslo founded schools for girls in Prairie du Chien and Galena, and he established the teaching congregation of Dominican Sisters at the Sinsinawa Mound, Sinsinawa, Wisconsin. His command of native languages of the area enabled him to publish texts for the Winnebago and Menominee Indians of the region. He is credited, too, with having published the first book in the state, a liturgical almanac in the Chippewa language. Father Mazzuchelli ministered at St. Patrick for the last 15 years of his life. His rectory during his early years as Benton’s priest was a small home that was moved to Bean Street when a larger parish house was built. In 1989 Father Mazzuchelli’s first rectory house was moved from its Bean Street location back to a site on St. Patrick Church grounds. It was restored and stands preserved as the Mazzuchelli Rectory Museum. Father Mazzuchelli died in 1864 and is buried in St. Patrick Catholic Church Cemetery. In 1993, Pope John Paul II declared Father Mazzuchelli venerable, the first step to possible canonization as a saint. Visitors may visit the Mazzuchelli Gravesite at any time. Appointments for tours of the Mazzuchelli Rectory Museum may be made by contacting Pauline Alexander at 608.759.3441. (Visitors might like to continue learning about Father Mazzuchelli by visiting his archives at the Sinsinawa Mound, located 12-14 miles west of Benton on Cty Rd. Z in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin. Father Mazzuchelli founded the Sinsinawa Dominican Congregation there in 1847. The Mound is currently home to nearly 700 Dominican Sisters and houses Father Mazzuchelli’s exhibit, “Samuel Mazzuchelli, Tracing a Journey.” The exhibit includes highlights of his life and accomplishments, and showcases a number of artifacts. Included in those artifacts is the chain Father Samuel wore as penance, secretly hidden beneath his vestments and wrapped tightly around his waist. Many people—particularly the ill and ailing—have prayed with Father Muzzuchelli’s penance chain in the hope of being granted a miracle. The Mazzuchelli exhibit at Sinsinawa Mound is open from 10 A.M. to 3:30 P.M. Monday through Friday (closing from noon to 12:30), and from 12:30 to 3:30 P.M. on Saturday and Sunday.) Swindlers’ Ridge Museum 25 W. Main Street—Benton, Wisconsin Located near the center of town, Swindlers’ Ridge Museum is the home to artifacts and historical memorabilia from Benton and the surrounding area. Included is memorabilia from the lead-mining industry that once was so prevalent in and around Benton. The museum is open from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. every Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday between Labor Day and Memorial Day. Other visits may be made by appointment by contacting Pauline Alexander at 608.759.3441. 1851 Schoolhouse Museum Village Park—Benton, Wisconsin Benton is fortunate to have a part of its educational history preserved in the 1851 Schoolhouse Museum, the first schoolhouse built in the village limits. At the time of its construction in 1851, the schoolhouse was located near the corner of Main and Park Streets, and although it was a public school, Dominican nuns taught there until 1886. (There are historical indications, however, that perhaps they may not have been the school’s very first teachers.) When a new two-room school was erected in 1886, the first schoolhouse was moved to the rear of the new school. After being sold some years later, it was moved one-quarter mile east on Highway 11 and used as a private residence. In 1980 the building was donated to the Benton Alumni Association by Bill and Diana Sides and was moved, once again, to its present location on Catherine Street in the Village Park. The museum houses a collection of Benton school and alumni memorabilia. It is open on Labor Day and Memorial Day weekends and other times by appointment by contacting Pauline Alexander at 608.759.3441. Rustic Road Tour Benton / New Diggings Countryside Created by the Wisconsin Legislature in 1973, the Rustic Roads’ Tour is a statewide program that gives outdoor enthusiasts the opportunity to travel through some of the scenic, peaceful countryside of Wisconsin. Travelers may enjoy the Rustic Roads’ Tour by car, on foot, by bike, or even on horseback. Motorcyclists have long enjoyed the peaceful ride of a “road less traveled” and have included Wisconsin’s Rustic Roads in their cycling adventures. The southwest region of the Rustic Roads’ system is a 7.5-mile trip that takes travelers on a scenic drive in the countryside between Benton, New Diggings and Hazel Green. It follows portions of Buncombe, Kennedy, Beebe, and Ensch Roads, making its way beside meandering creeks and the hilly farmlands and pastures of the area. The early mining history of the region is evident in remnants of the abandoned Kennedy Mine, once producing more than 1,300,000 tons of lead/zinc ore, helping Wisconsin to produce 85% of the nation’s lead. (To be a part of Wisconsin’s Rustic Road program, an area must have outstanding natural features or include open areas with an agricultural setting, must have a minimum length of two miles and be lightly traveled, and must not be changed or improved in such a way as to change its rustic characteristics.) Self-Guided Driving Tour of Old Area Mines Benton, New Diggings, Leadmine, and Shullsburg Benton, like a number of towns in the region, owes its very existence to early lead miners and the mining industry they began here. Mines like the Frontier Mine and the Penna Benton Mine were common sites in the region. (The Frontier Mine was located on the west edge of town on property currently owned by Stella McDermott, and the Penna Benton was located in New Diggings.) While there are no longer any working mines in the area, there still exist remnants of many of those old mines. Historian Loren Farrey has written a book—A Tour Guide to the Mines of Lafayette County, Wisconsin—that enables visitors to take a self-guided tour to the locations of a number of those mines. The book guides visitors past sites of 22 old mines and includes a history and pictures of each site. The tour originates in Shullsburg’s Badger Mine and Museum located in the Badger Park at 279 W. Estey Street. The museum is open from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. daily between Memorial Day and Labor Day. While you may begin your tour at any point in the book, the Badger Mine and Museum offers visitors a history of mining and mining life that will lend valuable meaning to your driving tour of the area. Additionally, Swindlers’ Ridge Museum in Benton has a number of mining artifacts and memorabilia and should be included on your tour, as well. Swindlers’ Ridge Museum is open from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. every Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday between Labor Day and Memorial Day. Other visits may be made by appointment by contacting Pauline Alexander at 608.759.3441. (Farrey’s book, A Tour Guide to the Mines of Lafayette County, Wisconsin, is available for purchase at Benton’s Swindler’s Ridge, the Benton State Bank, the Rock Café, and the Badger Mine and Museum of Shullsburg. It is also available for loan at the Benton Public Library.) . In New Diggings Izaak Walton Fever River Handicapped Fishing Dock Cty. Hwy W—New Diggings, Wisconsin Seeing a need to have an area from which handicapped persons can enjoy the sport of fishing, the Southwestern Chapter of the Izaak Walton League initiated and built the Izaak Walton Handicapped Fishing Dock.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Upper Mississippi River Conservation Opportunity Area Wildlife Action Plan
    Version 3 Summer 2012 UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER CONSERVATION OPPORTUNITY AREA WILDLIFE ACTION PLAN Daniel Moorehouse Mississippi River Pool 19 A cooperative, inter-agency partnership for the implementation of the Illinois Wildlife Action Plan in the Upper Mississippi River Conservation Opportunity Area Prepared by: Angella Moorehouse Illinois Nature Preserves Commission Elliot Brinkman Prairie Rivers Network We gratefully acknowledge the Grand Victoria Foundation's financial support for the preparation of this plan. Table of Contents List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. ii Acronym List .............................................................................................................................. iii I. Introduction to Conservation Opportunity Areas ....................................................................1 II. Upper Mississippi River COA ..................................................................................................3 COAs Embedded within Upper Mississippi River COA ..............................................................5 III. Plan Organization .................................................................................................................7 IV. Vision Statement ..................................................................................................................8 V. Climate Change .......................................................................................................................9
    [Show full text]
  • Freshwater Mussels of the Mississippi River Tributaries: North, North Central, and Central Drainages
    Freshwater mussels of the Mississippi River tributaries: North, North Central, and Central drainages Alison P. Stodola, Sarah A. Bales, Diane K. Shasteen INHS Technical Report 2013 (09) Prepared for: Illinois Department of Natural Resources: Office of Resource Conservation U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Illinois Natural History Survey Issued February 22, 2013 Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign William Shilts, Executive Director Illinois Natural History Survey Brian D. Anderson, Director 1816 South Oak Street Champaign, IL 61820 217-333-6830 Freshwater mussels of the Mississippi River tributaries: North, North Central and Central drainages 2013 Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois Illinois Department of Natural Resources Alison P. Stodola, Sarah A. Bales, Diane K. Shasteen 0 Preface While broad geographic information is available on the distribution and abundance of mussels in Illinois, systematically collected mussel-community data sets required to integrate mussels into aquatic community assessments do not exist. In 2009, a project funded by a US Fish and Wildlife Service State Wildlife Grant was undertaken to survey and assess the freshwater mussel populations at wadeable sites from 33 stream basins in conjunction with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR)/Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) basin surveys. Inclusion of mussels into these basin surveys contributes to the comprehensive basin monitoring programs that include water and sediment chemistry, instream habitat, macroinvertebrate, and fish, which reflect a broad spectrum of abiotic and biotic stream resources. These mussel surveys will provide reliable and repeatable techniques for assessing the freshwater mussel community in sampled streams. These surveys also provide data for future monitoring of freshwater mussel populations on a local, regional, and watershed basis.
    [Show full text]
  • LF0071 Ch9.Pdf
    Figure 9.2 Figure 9.2: Watersheds (HUC 10) and Sub‐Watersheds (HUC 12) of the Platte River Region. 9‐2 1. OVERVIEW a) Physical Environment The Platte River Region is characterized by broad open hilltops and river valleys, and steep wooded slopes. The soils in this watershed have formed in a silty, wind‐blown covering with the deepest deposits along the bluffs of the Mississippi River and thinning towards the east. Some valley soils are alluvial sands, loams, and peats. Some hilltops are almost treeless due to the thin soil while others have a deep silt loam cap. Soils are underlain with calcareous bedrock. b) Land Cover and Use The region is dominated by agricultural uses, in particular along the hilltops and valley bottoms. With the increasing price of corn and Figure 9.3: Land cover of the Platte River Region. soybeans over the last decade, many pastures, hayfields, and lands that were enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) are being converted to row crops. This large‐scale conversion of permanent vegetation to agricultural uses that expose open soil is also likely to have an adverse effect on water quality of streams in the region. Deciduous forests are found on the steep side slopes, with wetlands confined to riparian corridors. Most forested lands are part of farming operations and managed to provide forest products, including saw timber and firewood. c) Terrestrial Habitats Grassland management at multiple scales is a conservation opportunity in the Platte River Region. Small, scattered remnants of native prairie exist here along with substantial areas of "surrogate grassland" (although this is declining with conversions out of CRP).
    [Show full text]
  • NATURAL RESOURCES (Updated Excerpt from Jo Daviess Comprehensive Plan Baseline Data)
    ATTACHMENT F: NATURAL RESOURCES (Updated excerpt from Jo Daviess Comprehensive Plan Baseline Data) The natural resources in Jo Daviess County are unique relative to the rest of the state and much of the mid-west because the county is part of the Wisconsin Driftless Region bypassed by continental glaciers of the Ice Age. This region covers parts of southern Minnesota and Wisconsin, Northwestern Illinois and Northeastern Iowa. Glaciated areas were leveled, strewn with glacial debris or "drift" and dotted with lakes and ponds. The driftless areas, on the other hand, have bedrock close to the surface into which deep valleys have been carved by millions of years of weather and erosion. In Jo Daviess County, streams are numerous and the only two lakes are man-made. The relief from the higher ridges to the valley floors is typically 300 feet or more creating a rugged and scenic landscape. Ecosystems can be found in this landscape that are older than those found in glaciated areas. Geology The topography of Jo Daviess County is characterized by rugged relief unique to most of Illinois. Our county, located in the far northwestern corner of the state, is in an area spared by the major glaciations of the last two million years. It is, accordingly, called the "Driftless Area" by geologists, the term "drift" referring to material deposited by glacial activity. The visible landscape that we see today began during the Paleozoic Era (570 to 245 million years ago) when shallow seas repeatedly inundated the interior of the continent. Shells of marine animals, along with muds, silts and sands from eroding highlands, were periodically deposited in those sea bottoms.
    [Show full text]
  • Attachment J-Historic Trails
    ATTACHMENT J: HISTORIC TRAILS Jo Daviess County is littered with remnants of historic trails and roads. The earliest were the result of Native Americans following herds of large game animals. As trade networks and cultural centers developed among early cultures, trails branched out. The Galena area became a hub for some indigenous tribes because of the lead trade. As early as 6,000-7,000 years ago pieces of lead from the Tri-States were being traded throughout the Midwest and beyond. These pieces, traced by chemical analysis at archaeological sites throughout the mid-continent, show an advanced trading network at an early date. Galena (Latin for lead sulfide) was used for charms and for body paint. The first Europeans followed the trails of the native tribes. Waterways provided the most convenient routes for explorers and fur traders. Prairie du Chien was an important fur trading center beginning in the 1600s. The French also became interested in minerals and by 1690 had accessed the Galena Mines by way of the Mississippi and Fever (now Galena) Rivers. Overland routes were also important, particularly when the lead trade came under the control of the American government. The issuance of the first leases for mining were made in 1822, only four years after Illinois became a state. The excitement generated led to the first major mineral rush in U. S. history. The lead region represented the far fringes of the frontier in the 1820s. There was no settlement in northern Illinois, only the southern part, and the only town of note was St.
    [Show full text]
  • Guide to the Geology of the Galena Area
    5 (^$UiAA>*>M C 3 Guide to the Geology of the Galena Area Jo Daviess County, Illinois Lafayette County, Wisconsin David L. Reinertsen Field Trip Guidebook 1992B May 16, 1992 Department of Energy and Natural Resources ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY LIBRARY. Cover photos by D. L. Reinertsen Clockwise from upper left: Silurian dolomite cap on Scales Mound, early crevice mine south of Galena near the Mississippi River, and downtown Galena as viewed from the old Galena High School. Geological Science Field Trips The Educational Extension Unit of the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) conducts four free tours each year to acquaint the public with the rocks, mineral resources, and landscapes of various regions of the state and the geological processes that have led to their origin. Each trip is an all-day excursion through one or more Illinois counties. Frequent stops are made to explore interesting phenomena, explain the processes that shape our environment, discuss principles of earth science, and collect rocks and fossils. People of all ages and interests are welcome. The trips are especially helpful to teachers who prepare earth science units. Grade school students are welcome, but each must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. High school science classes should be supervised by at least one adult for each ten students. A list of guidebooks of earlier field trips for planning class tours and private outings may be obtained by contacting the Educational Extension Unit, Illinois State Geological Survey, Natural Resources Building, 615 East Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL 61820. Telephone: (217) 244- 2407 or 333-7372.
    [Show full text]
  • Northwest IL River Experiences
    Northwest Illinois River Experiences Illinois has over 120,000 miles of rivers and streams. Get outside and enjoy our natural treasures. Lowden State Park (Oregon) Apple River Canyon State Park Ogle County RIVER: Access to Rock River RIVER: Apple River Jo Davies County WHAT TO DO: Fishing, hiking, camping, 8763 E. Canyon Rd 8763 E. Canyon Rd and boating Apple River, IL 61001 WHAT TO DO: Camping, fishing, hiking, 815/745-3302 and wildlife viewing Apple River, IL 61001 815/745-3302 WEBSITE:http://dnr.state.il.us/lands/Landmgt/ WEBSITE: dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/parks/ PARKS/R1/LOWDENSP.HTM r1/apple.htm Distinguished by a 50-foot tall sculpture associated with Chief Black Part of Illinois’ limestone covered northwest, Apple River Canyon boasts Hawk, Lowden State Park has gorgeous scenery, extensive hiking, and stunning natural features along with a great deal of local history. Cleft by diverse wildlife. A large campground offers 80 Class A sites, a cabin, the Apple River Canyon and dotted with hardwood forest besides, the 38 B/S sites, and 8 primitive campsites, which offer a more natural Apple River Canyon State Park is a bastion of preglacial natural beauty. experience. Picnicking is available on site, and scenic overlook displays Five trails wind through the area, one of which is handicap accessible, the area. It also has a wide variety of fish species in miles of the Rock River and also boasts almost 50 Class C campgrounds. The area is located in in Ogle County. There is no motor restriction for boats, and a boat dock the heart of the tourist-friendly northwest region, and is surrounded by and ramp are located next to the site.
    [Show full text]
  • Driftless Area - Wikipedia Visited 02/19/2020
    2/19/2020 Driftless Area - Wikipedia Visited 02/19/2020 Driftless Area The Driftless Area is a region in southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois, of the American Midwest. The region escaped the flattening effects of glaciation during the last ice age and is consequently characterized by steep, forested ridges, deeply carved river valleys, and karst geology characterized by spring-fed waterfalls and cold-water trout streams. Ecologically, the Driftless Area's flora and fauna are more closely related to those of the Great Lakes region and New England than those of the broader Midwest and central Plains regions. Colloquially, the term includes the incised Paleozoic Plateau of southeastern Minnesota and northeastern Relief map showing primarily the [1] Iowa. The region includes elevations ranging from 603 to Minnesota part of the Driftless Area. The 1,719 feet (184 to 524 m) at Blue Mound State Park and wide diagonal river is the Upper Mississippi covers 24,000 square miles (62,200 km2).[2] The rugged River. In this area, it forms the boundary terrain is due both to the lack of glacial deposits, or drift, between Minnesota and Wisconsin. The rivers entering the Mississippi from the and to the incision of the upper Mississippi River and its west are, from the bottom up, the Upper tributaries into bedrock. Iowa, Root, Whitewater, Zumbro, and Cannon Rivers. A small portion of the An alternative, less restrictive definition of the Driftless upper reaches of the Turkey River are Area includes the sand Plains region northeast of visible west of the Upper Iowa.
    [Show full text]
  • The Galena Territory, Illinois
    Draft JO DAVIESS COUNTY Multi-Jurisdictional All Hazards Mitigation Plan PARTICIPANTS Apple Canyon Lake Hanover, Village of Apple River, Village of Jo Daviess County East Dubuque, City of Scales Mound, Village of Elizabeth, City of Stockton, Village of Galena, City of Warren, Village of The Galena Territory MARCH 2013 The five year update of this Plan must be completed on or before (date). Jo Daviess County Multi-Jurisdictional All Hazards Mitigation Plan ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Developing the first All Hazards Mitigation Plan for Jo Daviess County and the participating jurisdictions involved a considerable amount of input from many people. All of these contributions have helped to make this Plan the definitive source of information on hazards, their impacts, and various options to eliminate or reduce these impacts on current and future generations. Information from various government sources has been supplemented by weather data and photographs from personal collections. The Jo Daviess County Multi-Jurisdictional All Hazards Mitigation Planning Committee included residents who live throughout the County. Their knowledge of the devastation caused by severe weather coupled with their commitment to protecting the lives, property, and welfare of Jo Daviess County residents were important ingredients needed to develop this Plan. The Jo Daviess County Local Emergency Planning Committee was active in helping to initiate and sustain the planning process. Ron Data, Chuck Pedersen, and Steve Silberman represented the LEPC throughout the planning process as did other LEPC members including Peg Murphy and Matt Calvert from the Jo Daviess County Public Health Department; long-time Jo Daviess County Emergency Management Director Colin Fulrath; Jo Daviess County Sheriff Kevin Turner; Scott Allshouse of the Northwest Illinois Chapter of the American Red Cross; Susan Coers, IEMA Region 2 Regional Coordinator; Jo Daviess County Highway Engineer Steve Keeffer; and Annette McLane, Jo Daviess County Farm Bureau Manager.
    [Show full text]
  • Taxonomic Studies of the Genus Polymnia L
    This dissertation has been 64—6976 microfilmed exactly as received WELLS, James Ray, 1932— TAXONOMIC STUDIES OF THE GENUS POLYMNIA L. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1963 Botany University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan TAXONOMIC STUDIES OF THE GENUS POLYMNIA L. DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By JAMES RAY WELLS, B.S., M.S. The Ohio State University 1963 Approved by Adviser Department of Botany and Plant Pathology ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. T. v Richard Fisher, my adviser, who suggested this problem and under whose guidance the work wan carried out. I am also grateful to Drs. Clara Weishaupt, J.W.A. Burley, C. E. Taft, and Glenn W. Blaydes for reading this dissertation and for offering helpful suggestions and criticisms. I am indebted to the curators of the several herbaria for making their material available. Permission to use Goode Base Maps (Copyright by the University of Chicago) for plotting plant distributions is gratefully acknowledged. This permission was granted through Goode Base Map Series, Department of Geography, The University of Chicago. My wife Jan, is due special recognition for her loyal support and cooperation throughout this endeavor. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS....................................... ii LIST OF T A B L E S ........................................ iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS................................ v INTRODUCTION ........................................... 1 MORPHOLOGY ............................................. 3 GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION .............................. 5 ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE . .............................. 7 TAXONOMY ............................................... 8 KEY TO SPECIES AND VARIETIES.......................... 11 DESCRIPTION AND DISCUSSION OF T A X A .................... 15 EXPERIMENTAL TAXONOMIC INVESTIGATIONS ...............
    [Show full text]
  • Blister Beetles (Coleoptera: Meloidae) of Wisconsin
    BLISTER BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: MELOIDAE) OF WISCONSIN: DISTRIBUTION AND ECOLOGY By Daniel A. Marschalek A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Entomology) at the UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON 2013 Date of final oral examination: 12/7/12 The dissertation is approved by the following members of the Final Oral Committee: Daniel K. Young, Professor, Entomology Daniel L. Mahr, Professor Emeritus, Entomology Claudio Gratton, Associate Professor, Entomology Eileen M. Cullen, Associate Professor, Entomology Don M. Waller, Professor, Botany Mark E. Berres, Assistant Professor, Animal Sciences i BLISTER BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: MELOIDAE) OF WISCONSIN: DISTRIBUTION AND ECOLOGY Daniel A. Marschalek Under the supervision of Professor Daniel K. Young At the University of Wisconsin-Madison Meloids are commonly referred to as “blister beetles” due to the toxin (cantharidin) they possess which can cause blistering of human skin. Several meloid species have long histories of negatively impacting agriculture resulting from large foraging aggregations and negatively impacting livestock health. Even with these important and interesting aspects, little is known about these beetles in their natural habitats. There are recent faunistic surveys of selected insect taxa in Wisconsin but a formal investigation of Meloidae is lacking. The blister beetle fauna of several states has been published, but this survey represents the first in the Midwestern United States. This study provides a comprehensive list of all meloid species documented from Wisconsin, as well as taxonomic keys and summaries for each species (species pages) which includes taxonomy, description, and natural history. During this survey, 28 species in seven genera were documented in Wisconsin, with 10 species considered new state records.
    [Show full text]
  • Historic Millville, Apple River Canyon State Park, Jodaviess County
    Millville Highlights and W. Brunner’s blacksmith shop, which probably The first buildings in Millville went up in 1835 and continued to supply tools to the region’s lead miners 1836, when the Burbridges and John R. Smith erected a and farmers. As late as 1872, a blacksmith shop is house and a sawmill on the south bank of the Apple mapped within the village, along with eight other HISTORIC MILLVILLE, River at its confluence with the South Fork. Settlers buildings and two additional houses and a school north APPLE RIVER CANYON STATE PARK, arriving in the area readily bought up the milled lumber. of the Apple River. JO DAVIESS COUNTY In 1838 the first Millville post office opened, with In Nellie Boone’s 1885 painting of Millville, one of mail delivery by stagecoach once every week. One the floodplain buildings has a false front—a feature stage line is said to have had a horse barn in Millville. typically associated with commercial structures. This Local historians estimate the population in Millville building may be William Simmons’s circa 1870 store around 1838 was 330, a figure that likely includes and may also be Powers and Mathews’s 1849-1853 regional farms. The 1840 census for the village, which grocery. wasn’t platted until 1846, records only eight households near the postmaster’s and a total of 62 people. Besides the post office and the mill, there were one or two stores present in 1840. The federal survey for the original land sales within the township wasn’t conducted until 1840, nearly a decade after Euro-American settlement in the township had begun.
    [Show full text]